Book excerpt: Escolastica Rodriguez, grand daughter of the first Spanish expedition of 1776, grows up in a California that seems to be the mythical golden island Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo dreamed into existence three centuries before. A last frontier of Spanish chivalry and gracious hospitality, it is a civilization about to be trampled by the adventurer of the California Gold Rush. Escolastica, a true California, "a daughter of the country," dances between the two conflicting worlds in this novel of love and history and betrayal.